Police Raid Sydney Gay Bars Again in Second Oxford Street Operation in Three Months

For the second time in three months, police have raided Sydney’s gay bars, reigniting anger across the LGBTQIA+ community.

Arq, Palms, Beresford and Kinselas, amongst others, were targeted by the police on Saturday in another “intelligence-led” operation by the New South Wales Police Force.

“Officers were deployed to the Oxford Street Entertainment Precinct where they aimed to proactively disrupt and address drug supply, antisocial behaviour, harm and other offences related to illicit drugs,” said Police media.

The “intelligence-led” operation to disrupt drug supply resulted in no charges and no arrests.

Police searched 65 people, which resulted in 28 drug detections and 12 fines issued.

Patrons described the police as intimidating, with an estimated 18-person-strong police force storming into Arq as part of the operation.

James Twigg, who documented the operation on his Instagram, described it as “toxic” and accused them of “awful conduct”.

“You have ruined our city, lost our nightlife because of you… You’re not welcome,” he wrote.

It may not be just the community that didn’t want the police there, with one patron telling Gay Sydney Daily that a female police officer was heard saying “I don’t want to be here.”

Currently, there have been no reports to this outlet about aggressive or unprofessional behaviour by the police force, unlike their operation three months ago.

Back in June, the police undertook another “intelligence-led” operation where they were caught on camera telling patrons to “f***k off” and being aggressive.

During the June operation, police searched 93 people, resulting in 42 drug detections, with only one person charged with supply.

That operation led Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, alongside Lord Mayor Clover Moore, to write to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission to request a review into the operation.

The NSW Police conducted an internal review, which concluded “no further investigation was warranted.”

However, this was not accepted by the LECC, who conducted its own assessment and disagreed with the decision to not investigate further.

That investigation is still ongoing.

City Councillor Adam Worling told GSD that it was staggering that the raid occurred, considering their June operation was still being investigated.

“While I believe this police tactic is heavy-handed towards our community, I am also angry on behalf of affected businesses when it takes weeks for them to rebuild attendance following these draconian raids,” he said.

“It has to stop.”

Greenwich has urged members of the community to contact him if they had a negative experience with the police force during the operation.

“I’m concerned that people wanted to go out, have a good time, and were greeted with what has been described as police intimidation.”

More on this story
Previously: “Aggressive, Intimidating, Unprofessional”: Police condemned over Oxford Street LGBTQ+ raids
Read next: “That’s Complete Misinformation”: Police Deny Targeting Gay Venues During Recent Oxford St Raids
All our Oxford Street raids coverage